


The Lion

by NotSteve



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Family, Love, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-24
Updated: 2016-07-24
Packaged: 2018-07-26 08:50:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7567855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotSteve/pseuds/NotSteve
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hunfrid has a secret that only he and his wife know about and he does everything in his power to keep people from knowing it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Lion

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first asoiaf/got fic. The summary really doesn't explain what the story's actually about. I guess it is about Hunfrid trying to keep his secret a secret.

Hunfrid was a quiet man, kept to himself mostly. He and his wife, Ursella, settled in a small village near Winterfell after the war. Not much is known about this peculiar couple only that they fought together in the Great War; that’s why they’ve stuck together all this long. Together Hunfrid and Ursella live in a small cottage away from the village, keeping to themselves mostly. Though many people know almost nothing about them, they always share kind words whenever near.  
Every morning Hunfrid would go down to the village. He would collect fish mostly, even though the fish were the foulest food at the market—the fisherman hardly ever had fresh meat. Many sellers attempted to have him buy their food, something freshly hunted, like pig or chicken, (and sometimes he did), but he would almost always buy the disgusting fish. It was his wife’s favorite, he told them simply. He had to also admit that he had grown fond of the fisherman. He would tell him stories of the sea. How he almost fought a giant squid, wanting his fish, on his way to Essos or the time scoundrels attacked his ship, intending to rob him but instead staying to work for him. Whether these stories were true, Hunfrid didn’t know, he just liked listening to them. They were fun, the fisherman was fun.  
The fisherman had just returned from a trip to Tarth, which Hunfrid was anxious to hear about: “No good stories in the seas, I’m afraid,” the fisherman told Hunfrid. He had wacky white hair and his two front teeth were missing. “Inside Tarth seemed far more interesting. They’ve got lions, I hear.”  
“Lions?” Hunfrid said amusingly.   
“Lions,” the man confirmed. “Lions in Tarth. Can you imagine? I heard them roar on my way out.”  
“Where would they have room for lions,” Hunfrid asked curiously.   
“Up in the castle, of course!”  
Of course, thought Hunfrid. Where else would they keep them?   
Hunfrid bid farewell to the fisherman, until tomorrow, and headed for home with a basket full of stinky fish. His wife will be there, waiting for her husband’s return. They have only each other to count on, no one else.   
Hunfrid, once a very handsome man, now is nothing more than a broken man. His face, old and warn from life and more, is now covered in battle scars and wrinkles. He is completely bald on the top of his head. The only hair visible is his grey beard, with only a hint of gold shining through. His wife, Ursella, is much uglier, standing at least a few feet taller than him. Her face is almost completely ruined. She has a fowl mouth with big lips and hardly any teeth. She is so ugly that many wonder why Hunfrid married her. People say Hunfrid would have married someone much prettier if it wasn’t for his missing hand, but, unfortunately, he has to live out the rest of his days as a broken man, with a broken woman as his wife.  
He arrived home, gave his wife a sweet kiss and presented the rotten fish to her.   
“Honestly Jaime, stop buying this Gods awful fish,” his wife said. “Tomorrow I’m going to the market and buying something far more appetizing.”  
When he goes outside, he is Hunfrid and his wife is Ursella, quiet villagers who keep to themselves, who keep out of trouble, but when they’re alone in their cottage, they are Brienne and Jaime. Always Brienne and Jaime.  
“It was the fisherman again, wasn’t it?” She asked, and Jaime couldn’t help but smile at his angry wife. “What’s the story this time? Did his ship go underwater and find a lost city?”  
“No,” he said, amused. “He went to Tarth.”  
“Oh,” Brienne said, her face turning red. She tried to act like she didn’t care, but she has always been a terrible liar.  
“No news about your father,” Jaime said quickly, an attempt to try and reassure her. “But apparently there are lions.”  
“Lions?” She looked at him curiously. “Your brother, you mean?”   
“No, actual lions, roaring for all of Tarth to hear in your father’s castle.” He imitated a lion’s roar.  
“That’s impossible,” she told him. “There are no lions in the Sapphire Isles. How would a lion even get to Tarth?”  
“A lot of dedication, I suppose,” he said and laughed. Brienne’s face turned red again. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. The man is a lunatic. He probably mistook a bird’s chirp for a lion’s roar, that’s all.”  
Strange as the whole incident was, their minds quickly forgot about it and they went back to living normal lives. As normal as they could, anyway. It’s not easy living secret lives, especially since everyone knew their old lives. It took a whole moon’s turn to convince the villagers that he wasn’t Jaime Lannister, that he lost his hand in a sword fight when he was a boy. He had shaved his hair to hide the Lannister gold, but still it was very prominent that he was a golden child. Jaime’s sure people are still suspicious of him, but so long as it doesn’t lead to any trouble, he’s okay with it. Brienne covering up her identity was a little easier. No one knew her or the family she belonged in, only her height. She simply said she was part of the free folk and they believed her.  
It was much harder to convince themselves they were no longer those people. Jaime and Brienne were just names now. No titles or duties associated with it. Just Brienne and Jaime, not Kingslayer or Maid of Tarth. Those people died a long time ago. It’s been a hard few years and nothing they do seems to erase their past.  
Jaime no longer dreams of summer—summer left him long ago—instead he’s haunted with nightmares of winter. He sees himself pushing a little boy out of a tower; he sees his hand being torn from him; he sees all his children dying and no matter how much he tries, he never seems to be able to save any of them; he sees his little babe dying; he sees broken promises, innocence lost. Brienne’s nights are similar, Jaime knows, because they spend most of their nights lying awake, wondering if they can live another day. Thankfully, the sun rises each morning and their night terrors crawl away, as if they were leaving forever. However, the terrors never leave forever; they simply say, “Until next time,” and return the next night.   
Jaime has done many awful things, but the worst has to be sending his only legitimate child away. How was he supposed to know it would end like this? He didn’t know! He didn’t know. “He isn’t safe here,” he remembers telling Brienne. Those words haunt him now. What did he know? They were at war. It wasn’t safe anywhere! He wishes Brienne hadn’t let him do it! If he could go back to that moment, he would stop himself from even thinking about sending their sweet little Attie away. It was supposed to be so simple. Pod would take Attie to Tarth, to Lord Selwyn. He said he would take care of him. It was so simple! But they never heard from Pod again and Lord Selwyn sent a raven, telling them Pod had never made it to Tarth. It was an honest mistake. Won’t the Gods forgive me, Jaime prayed each night, but he wasn’t sure they were listening. They never listened. He doesn’t deserve forgiveness, anyway. He deserves punishment for all the terrible things he has done.  
Still, his little boy didn’t deserve to be punished for Jaime’s mistakes. It should have been me, he would cry each night in his nightmares. It should have been me! He wonders who had done it. Was he strangled? Was it with a knife or sword? Was it poison? If he knew who had done it, he would kill that man! He would torture him until he begged for death. It was his son, his beautiful boy, and he died because Jaime’s stupid mistake. How can Brienne still love him? He killed her son. He killed their son. When he holds her at night, he sees the sadness in her eyes. It’s torture. Why does she forgive him? He doesn’t deserve her forgiveness. He doesn’t deserve her. Everything that has happened in his life, all the pain and torture he has lived through, hardly compares to what he feels right now. He wishes he were dead, but he stays alive for Brienne, just as she does for him. 

The next morning, Hunfrid met with the fisherman again, this time denying the fish (for the sake of his wife), but he stayed for the conversation. There were Queensguard out and about, he told Hunfrid. “They’re here to kill me,” the fisherman said.  
He would have ignored what the fisherman had said if he hadn’t seen two strange men on horses talking with villagers. They weren’t Queensguard—their armor was too rugged and ugly, no armor for a man on the Queensguard—but they did look suspicious. He decided to skip the market and head straight home.  
Jaime and Brienne were outside their home when they spotted the strange men. One of them noticed Jaime’s right arm, noticed his missing hand. He exchanged a few words with his friend and together they rode towards the couple.  
In panic, Brienne quickly ran inside. To grab Oathkeeper, he suspects.   
“Hello,” Jaime said kindly as the two men cornered him.  
“Jaime Lannister?” Asked the man who had noticed him.  
“No, ‘fraid not,” Jaime told him, flashing his charming smile.  
“But you have the missing hand,” he said.  
“Oh this,” Jaime said, looking at his stump, “no I lost this long before that Jaime Lannister fellow lost his. In all honesty, I think he was trying to copy me when he had his done.”  
“Are you sure you’re not Jaime Lannister,” the other man asked. He took a good glance at Jaime’s stump.  
What buffoons, Jaime thought, of course I’m Jaime fucking Lannister. “Sorry, no. Name’s Hunfrid.” He noticed the men still seemed unconvinced. “Lannister? Isn’t that the house with the lion? With the roaring?” The men nodded eagerly. “Aren’t they filthy rich? If I were this Jaime fellow, don’t you think I would be somewhere drinking expensive wine and shitting on gold toilets, instead of being here, living in my own filth?”  
“He makes a good point,” the first man told his friend.   
“Sorry for the misunderstanding,” the other one said.   
They were about to leave when Brienne came running out, Oathkeeper in hand.  
“It is Jaime Lannister,” the first man said, eyes locked on the sword. “That’s Oathkeeper! That’s the sword!”  
Damn you, wench. Why must you grab Oathkeeper every single fucking time something looks suspicious? I had this under control! “You’re mistaking,” Jaime said calmly. It wasn’t too late to turn this back around. “That’s—“  
“That’s Oathkeeper and you’re Lady Brienne,” he said, pointing at Brienne.  
Brienne drew her sword, ready to strike.   
“We don’t want to fight you,” the other one said quickly, his hands covering his face in fear. “We’re from the Sapphire Isles. We were sent here to find you, bring you home.”  
“My father sent you,” she said, moving Oathkeeper quickly to her side. Jaime wondered how Lord Selwyn knew they were alive. It must have been one of the villagers. Was it the fisherman? He’s the only one who visited Tarth recently. Maybe during his trip he accidently let it slip that they were living here. “Tell my father—put your hands down, I’m not going to fight you! Tell my father I will not be returning—“  
“The lion sent us,” the first man said, “not your father.”  
“The lion?” Jaime said, looking at Brienne, who looked just as confused as he was. Did an actual lion talk to these men and tell them to find us?  
“A lion sent you?”  
“Yes, your son,” the first man said. “He sent everyone out looking for you. Didn’t think we’d find you, honestly. I was betting you were dead.”  
“Our son is dead,” Brienne said in a whisper.  
“He sure don’t act dead,” he said. The men laughed. Brienne glared, face turning a bright red. Jaime saw her tighten her grip on Oathkeeper.  
“They found him about a year ago, travelling with the brotherhood,” said the other man. “Some guy recognized him and bought him off—might’ve been your brother, don’t know. Returned him to Tarth. Happy reunion, suppose.”  
“What about Pod,” Brienne asked. “Was he with Attie?”  
“Don’t know who that is,” he told her.   
Brienne looked at the ground, disappointed. Who knows, Jaime thought, he might still be alive. They spent all this time thinking Attie was dead. It’s not unlikely. Still, it’s very unlikely. He put his arm around her, for comfort, and kissed her ruined cheek. He felt her tears.  
In truth, Jaime didn’t care about Pod’s death. Yes, he was a great man, great warrior, should have been knighted, but his son was alive. That’s all that mattered. He hasn’t seen Attie since he was a babe, still clinging to Brienne. He’s a boy of nine now, almost a man. Maybe in a few moon turns he’ll stop and mourn Pod’s death, but right now he just wants to get back to his Attie. Maybe the Gods were listening after all or maybe they weren’t, luck just happened to be on Jaime’s side, he doesn’t know. Attie was alive, that’s all that mattered. Attie was alive and safe and they were coming home to him. The demons won’t be returning tonight, Jaime knew.

**Author's Note:**

> So yep.  
> If it's a little confusing, here's what happened early on: Jaime and Brienne get married. Brienne gets pregnant and they have a son. As much as they love their child, he was born in the midst of winter and Jaime doesn't believe it's safe for him to stay with them. So Pod and their son, Attie (look up that name, it lmeans bear), head for the Sapphire Isles, but they never make it and everybody thinks Attie's dead. Years later they find him with the brotherhood and send home. Attie is informed that his parents are dead, and he doesn't believe it and he sends everyone to go search for them.


End file.
